Co-operative Stakeholders. Who Counts in Co-operatives, and How?

Caroline Gijselinckx ()
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Caroline Gijselinckx: HIVA, Catholic University of Leuven

No 905, Working Papers on Social and Co-operative Entrepreneurship from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, HIVA, Cera Centre for Co-operative Entrepreneurship

Abstract: Who counts in co-operatives, and how? In this paper empirical results are presented from recent quantitative and qualitative studies on Belgian co-operatives in which questions about who counts in co-operatives and how were treated (Develtere, Meireman & Raymaekers, 2005; Dujardin, Mertens & Van Opstal, 2008; Van Opstal, Gijselinckx & Wyns, 2008; Van Opstal & Gijselinckx, 2008). The exploratory empirical evidence is presented after a brief overview of recent insights in stakeholder theory, inspiring the way co-operatives’ stakeholders can be conceived. Although in stakeholder theory multiple types of stakeholders are distinguished, the evidence presented leads us to the conclusion that a continuum between weak and strong models of multi-stakeholdership can be observed in Belgian co-operatives, with most of the cooperatives studied situated in the classical single-member model and weaker models of multistakeholdership. We look for explanations for the emerging pattern and try to formulate ways to overcome hindrances for the development of multi-stakeholder co-operative entrepreneurship, especially in the provision of quasi public goods and services, a gingerly growing field in the Belgian co-operative sector.

Keywords: co-operatives; stakeholder theory; multi-stakeholdership; member involvement; member participation; member advantages; corporate social responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G39 J54 M14 P13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2009-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-sbm and nep-soc
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